American workers perceive offshoring, the movement of manufacturing and service jobs from the U.S. to foreign countries, as a threat to domestic economy but not to themselves, according to a study recently released by the Hudson division of Hudson Highland Group Inc., New York.
Of 2,814 workers surveyed, 66% said offshoring was bad for the U.S. economy although 84% said it was not likely that their jobs would be moved to foreign locations.
"We were surprised by the strength of the sentiment against offshore outsourcing despite the limited personal impact reported by the workforce," says Jeff Anderson, senior vice president of Hudson Global Resources. "In fact, half of the surveyed workers opposed the practice so strongly that they advocate government penalties on companies that outsource jobs to offshore locations."
Among the study's other findings, 33% of U.S. manufacturing workers said they believe their jobs could be moved to another country. In contrast, only 11% of service workers said they felt that way.
Some 54% of the U.S. manufacturing workers surveyed said their companies were more likely to outsource jobs within the U.S. to cut costs, twice the 27% who said that if given a choice their companies would move the jobs overseas.
